


Plan Number One Hundred and Fifty-Nine

by Safyre



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Eventual James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, F/M, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:48:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28778562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Safyre/pseuds/Safyre
Summary: Remus is tired of enabling James' many plans to capture the heart of one Miss Lily Evans, and offers to take matters into his own hands.
Relationships: Alice Longbottom/Frank Longbottom, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Remus Lupin/Mary Macdonald, Sirius Black/Marlene McKinnon
Comments: 2
Kudos: 39





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please, enjoy - I have never posted anything here before, but this developed as an offshoot from a longer fic that I've been working on and I thought it would be a good place to start.

****Monday 14** ** ** **th** ** ****April, 1975** **

****

****Hogwarts** **

It was clear by the time they’d patrolled the first corridor that Lily was in an incredibly bad mood. Remus had determinedly ignored this for as long as possible however when their patrol was almost finished, he drew her to the side in an empty corridor and pointed at the window ledge.

“Sit,” he commanded. Lily scowled at him.

“Can we just get finished?”

“Not until you tell me what’s wrong.” Lily sighed, turned away, and seemed to be having a brief internal war. Remus waited patiently for some minutes before she said,

“Alice had sex with Frank last night.” Remus’ eyebrows shot up.

“And this had upset you because…” he prompted. Lily sighed.

“Because I’m the only sixth year Gryffindor left who’s not having sex,” Lily muttered, scarlet. Remus began to regret initiating the conversation, but ploughed on bravely.

“Not true,” he observed, sounding a lot more casual than he felt. Lily looked at him sceptically.

“You’ve slept with Marlene and Mary, Sirius and Marlene are never done going at it in corners, now Alice… or are you about to try and make me feel better by telling me Pettigrew isn’t? Because he doesn’t count.”

“Nah, he’s dating some Hufflepuff,” Remus said dismissively. “No, the other person who isn’t getting any is James. As far as I know he’s never even kissed a girl.” Lily stared at him in disbelief.

“You’re telling me that the best looking guy in our year hasn’t ever been near a girl? I figured he was just… more discreet about it than the rest of you.” Remus’ eyebrows shot up again.

“Best looking?” he questioned, grinning. “Is there something else we need to be discussing here, Miss Evans?”

“Oh, shut up,” Lily said, blushing. “I can admire him… aesthetically… while still considering him an arrogant show off and an arse.”

“Or you can admire his arse?” Remus suggested, still looking like all his Christmases had arrived together. She glared at him. He shrugged, unrepentant. “Anyway, I don’t know why you’re surprised that he’s not with anyone else. He’s been in love with you since we were eleven.” Lily rolled her eyes.

“For the love of Merlin, Remus, he’s not in love with me,” she replied. “He just likes to embarrass me, that’s all. He thinks it’s funny.” Remus sighed, frustrated.

“You’re wrong,” he said factually. “However, I know there’s no point in arguing. To return to our original subject - don’t worry about it. It’ll happen.”

“So you say,” she muttered.

“Lily. You’re beautiful, you’re smart and you’re funny. Please, don’t be silly.”

“You turned me down last year,” she pointed out. Remus flushed.

“James is my best friend, Lily. I couldn’t do that to him. Believe me, it wasn’t about you. It wasn’t personal. I told you at the time, it would have broken his heart and… I don’t think I’m the right man for you, to be perfectly honest.” She sighed.

“I know. You think James flaming Potter is the right man for me.”

“Maybe give him a chance?” Remus suggested. I think you’d be good for each other, really I do.”

“I’ll think about it. If he stops behaving like an idiot. And given that he will never stop behaving like an idiot, I’ll never have to think about it.”

“OK. Now, lets go and chase Sirius and Marlene from whichever tapestry they’re behind tonight and get to bed. It’s your turn to interrupt them.”

“I’ll give you a box of chocolate frogs to do it instead.”

“Deal.”

****Tuesday 15** ** ** **th** ** ****April, 1975** **

“Moooooooooony!” Remus, returning from the library, dropped his bag on his bed and sat down beside it.

“What?” he asked. James waved a sheet of parchment at him.

“Do you think you can help me research a spell to shower flowers on the object of ones affections?” he asked. “Ideally I want it to follow her around but if it has to be a fixed spot, maybe we could break into the girls’ dorms and have it over her bed?” Remus groaned.

“Can I presume that this is plan number 156 to capture the heart of Miss Lily Evans?” he asked.

“159, but yes,” James agreed. “You missed a few last time you were in the hospital wing.” Remus ran a hand through his hair and looked at his friend pityingly.

“Prongs. James. You’ve sung. You’ve danced. You’ve written poems - or at least, words that rhyme, given that you are not exactly a natural born poet. You’ve bought presents, you’ve used spells, you’ve used every trick in the book. You’ve enchanted suits of armour, sweet-talked the paintings, hired Cupids to follow her around on Valentine’s Day and dedicated your last three quidditch cup wins to her. You’ve charmed all the registers to change her name to Lily Potter…”

“Actually, that was me,” Sirius interrupted to point out, from where he was listening with a grin to this recital. Remus waved a hand at him in an effort to shut him up.

“Not the point, Pads. You’ve tried one hundred and fifty-eight things to get her to go out with you. You’ve been doing it for years. Can you, just this time, do me a favour?” he asked. James motioned to him to continue. “Let me do plan 159 in it’s entirety. You follow my instructions. If I fail, the falling flowers thing can be plan 160. I’ll even help you make it work,” he added with gritted teeth. James looked thoughtful.

“Why?”

“Because your ideas are hopeless, because you’re going about this all wrong, because only one of the four of us is actually friends with Lily, and because your way doesn’t fucking work! Trust me, Prongs!”

“I’d go for it, mate,” Sirius advised. “Let’s face it, he gets way more action than you do, and he’s right, he is friends with Evans. She won’t give any the three of us the time of day.” Peter nodded enthusiastically in agreement with this. James looked round at his three friends. Remus looked determined, Peter looked anticipatory and Sirius looked curious.

“OK,” he agreed, eventually. Remus grinned triumphantly.

“You will not regret this Prongs. I’m about to make you a taken man. Right. Pete, take notes. Step one…”


	2. Chapter Two

****Saturday 19** ** ** **th** ** ****April, 1975** **

****

Saturday morning after breakfast was free for most of the school. With some difficulty, they had managed to establish that Alice and Frank were out for a walk, Marlene was preparing for Quidditch training - which James had shamelessly handed over to Sirius for the morning - and Mary was intending to spend the time in the potions lab, working on a project. With Lily Evans thus unaccompanied, James watched the Marauders Map almost obsessively.

“She’s in the library,” he announced finally. “She’s there, she’s there, I should go, should I go? Oh shit, this is going to be a disaster. I shouldn’t go.”

“Move your arse,” Remus ordered, sucking on a sugar quill. “Remember everything we discussed last night,” he said firmly. “Pretend she’s Marlene if you have to.”

“Only don’t start yelling at her for being a shit beater,” Sirius advised, grinning.

“You enjoying this, Pads?” James asked, irritated.

“Extremely. There’s nothing in life funnier than watching you make a tit of yourself over Lily Evans,” Sirius said, nodding. “Except possibly watching Moony try and fail to stop you making a tit of yourself over Lily Evans.” James made a crude gesture at him and Remus rolled his eyes.

“And don’t do that,” he added. “Got the sweets? And your homework?”

“All present and correct,” James nodded.

“Then just remember - treat her normally, do exactly what we discussed, and for the love of Merlin don’t propose to her!” James grinned, gave him a thumbs up, made another rude gesture at Sirius and pushed Peter in the middle of his chest, sending him sprawling backwards as he jogged out the room, his bag banging lightly against his back.

“Ten galleons says he fucks it up,” Sirius said as the door closed. Remus considered this thoughtfully.

“Done,” he said finally. “I have faith in my tuition. Pete?”

“I’m with Sirius,” Peter replied from where he had landed on his bed. “I have plenty faith in Remus’ Rules for Getting Girls, I’ve no faith at all in Prongs’ ability to follow them without fucking up.” Remus shrugged.

“Please yourselves. If I lose I’ll borrow the galleons from Prongs to pay you both cos I agree, it’ll be his fault for being a useless imbecile. Now shut up, I’m working, and I now can’t do it in the fucking library.”

~~*~~

“Mind if I sit here?” James asked softly. The librarian was already glaring at him, - which he considered unfairly judgemental - and he shot her a reassuring smile as Lily looked up, glanced around at the crowded tables and sighed, then shrugged her shoulders.

“If you must,” she said. James ignored this discouraging sign and dropped into the seat opposite her, taking his charms homework out of his bag and setting to work without another word. Lily glanced up at him once or twice, then, when he seemed to be behaving, turned her attention back to her own work.

James worked for twenty minutes, as Remus had instructed, before taking any further action. He stretched, glanced over at Lily’s side of the table and observed,

“Are you working on Runes? How did you translate number 4?” Lily looked sharply at him, but he looked carefully innocent so she turned her parchment round and showed him the translation. James rummaged in his bag and produced his own work, and for several minutes they compared their answers, discussing animatedly the points where they differed.

“Anyway, I’m distracting you,” James said apologetically. “I’ll go back to Flitwick’s essay. Thanks for the pointers on that translation, I’ll fix mine later.” He picked up his quill again and Lily studied him thoughtfully for a few minutes. She reached idly into her bag and uttered an exclamation of annoyance when she realised that the box of sugar quills she kept there was empty. James looked up, curiously.

“Out of sweets,” she explained. “I was sure I had half a box left. That’s annoying.”

“Oh,” he pulled a box from his own bag and passed it over the table to her. “These are mine, but I’ll get a replacement next time I’m in Hogsmeade. You can have them.” She looked at him, automatically suspicious.

“Have you done something to them?”

“No.”

“Has Black done something to them?”

“No.”

“Has either Pettigrew or Remus done something to them?”

“No!”

“Is anything going to happen to me if I eat one?”

“You’ll concentrate on your Runes better?” James suggested. “Isn’t that why you were looking for them in the first place?” Lily giggled despite herself at his mock-confused tone.

“OK. Thank you. But if I turn into anything, so help you Potter….” James smiled at her, a genuine smile, and bent his head over his parchment again. Lily looked from the box of sweets to her work in confusion, and then looked back at him. All that was visible was the top of his head, his hair sticking up in all directions, and she found that her earlier irritation at sharing the table was almost gone. Shaking her head and ignoring this fact, which was potentially leading to further realisations that she really wasn’t into having right now, she finished her Runes work, put it away carefully, and pulled out the next piece of work.

The next thing that attracted James’ attention from his almost-complete Charms essay was a frustrated sigh. He looked up to see Lily twisting her hair in her left hand while scowling at the quill in her right.

“What’s up?” he asked softly. Lily glanced up.

“Transfiguration,” she replied shortly. “I’m not even remotely sure this is correct.” James hesitated.

“Want me to take a look?” Lily raised an eyebrow questioningly. “Hey, I’m pretty good at transfiguration!” James protested too loudly, and then dropped his voice again as they received another glare from the librarian. “I’ll read it through, let you know if you’re on the right lines or not.”

“Fine, what do I have to lose?” she pushed the parchment towards him and sat back. As he picked it up to begin reading, out of the corner of his eye, James saw her open the new box of sweets.

~~*~~

“Well? How did it go?” Remus asked. “Tell me I didn’t swipe half a box of sugar quills out her bag this morning for no reason?” James grinned.

  
”Awesome. We had actual conversations and she didn’t throw anything at me or hit me. She even helped me with my Runes and I offered to read her transfiguration essay. You’re a god amongst men, Moony, and you deserve every sugar quill you got.”

“And don’t you forget it.”


	3. Chapter Three

****Thursday 24** ** ** **th** ** ****April, 1975** **

Step Two of Plan Number 159 took place several days later. In the interim, following Remus’ detailed instructions, James had carefully refrained from any ostentatious display of affection and had treated Lily as a casual acquaintance. He’d made idle conversation with her at meals, spent more time in the library - this time with Remus in tow - doing homework with her and her friends, and had enlisted Sirius’ help in not making a fool of themselves in the common room for a while. On the Thursday following after the conclusion of the successful Step One, Remus and Lily had another prefect patrol.

“So I should have asked you before, but it’s difficult to get time alone - are you feeling better?” he asked, using his wand to move several tapestries aside and look behind them. She blushed.

“Yes, a bit, thanks. I was being rather ridiculous last week.”

“It’s no problem. We’re all a bit ridiculous sometimes. Should we check the dungeons?”

“I suppose so. It’ll be freezing though.”

“Always is. Come on, we’ll check quickly and get back to the warm. There was a fire being lit in the common room when we left.”

They descended the stairs and had barely got to the end of the first corridor when there was the unmistakeable sound of a scuffle ahead, a significant amount of swearing and a bang, followed by doors slamming and a distant yell. Both prefects broke into a run, to find James Potter kneeling beside the prone figure of Peter Pettigrew.

“What are you two doing?” Remus demanded.

“We came down for snacks,” James explained. “Someone attacked us - no idea who, they ran off before I could get a good look at them. I heard a door, but I don’t know where. What’s wrong with Pete?”

“Are you OK?” Lily asked urgently. When he nodded, she gently pushed James aside and bent over Peter, who had blood trickling from a cut near his hairline and an impressive bruise blossoming beside it. “I’m not sure… I’ve done some training with Madam Pomfrey but… I think he needs to go to the infirmary,” she said eventually. “It looks like he’s hit his head when he fell, and we don’t know what spell they hit him with.”

“I’ll take him,” Remus said immediately. Suiting the action to the words, he picked up the smaller boy as if he weighed nothing. “James, can you escort Lily back to the tower?”

“I don’t need an escort!” Lily bristled immediately. Remus gave her an annoyed look, shifting Peter slightly as he prepared to leave.

“If there’s someone sneaking around attacking Gryffindors, and they got the jump on Prongs, who is the best dueller I know, then you’ll take a damn escort, Lily! I don’t need to be carrying you to the infirmary as well!” She scowled but subsided, agreeing, and Remus disappeared quickly with Peter towards the nearest staircase.

“Where’s Black?” Lily asked suspiciously, suddenly realising that to see James Potter get into trouble without Sirius Black was a rare occurrence.

“Detention,” James replied immediately. “He wasn’t back when we left the tower.”

“I see,” she sighed. “I wish you lot would grow up. You can’t keep getting detentions for ever.”

“I haven’t had one detention the entire year!” James protested, as they started walking. Lily smiled at his aggrieved tone.

“Yes, yes, sure,” she said soothingly. “Next step Head Boy, no doubt.” They both laughed.

“Mum said if I didn’t improve, she’d take my broomstick away,” James confessed. Lily giggled involuntarily. “That would be embarrassing, you know? You can’t captain a quidditch team if your mum has confiscated your broom - and can you imagine what McKinnon would say?” The both laughed. “So I had to stop getting detentions, and once I did I realised - there is so much time to do other stuff if you’re not stuck in detention four days a week! Sirius doesn’t care though. Detentions are all in a days work for him. Maybe I need to get mum to threaten him next time.” They climbed the stairs in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before he spoke again. “Listen, Lily… tomorrow night a few of us are going into Hogsmeade for Pete’s birthday. Do you want to come?”

“Tomorrow’s not a Hogsmeade trip,” Lily replied immediately. “It’s not Hogsmeade until Saturday.” James managed to look slightly guilty.

“Yes, well… it’s his birthday. We have our ways.”

“Who’s going?”

“Well, the four of us, obviously, and Frank. So Alice will probably be there, Marlene and Mary and that girlfriend of Pete’s.”

“Everyone except me, basically?” Lily asked, looking slightly hurt.

“Well, we didn’t know if you’d want to come,” he said. “I’m asking you now. Sirius was going to ask Marlene tonight too and I think Remus only asked Mary this afternoon.”

“Are Remus and Mary dating again?” James scoffed.

“Are they ever?” he asked.

“OK. Are Remus and Mary having sex again?” Lily managed to re-phrase, cursing her pale skin and turning her face away so that he wouldn’t see the colour in her cheeks.

“I believe so.”

“And we’re just going… as friends, right? Everyone else you mentioned is a couple. Except, obviously, Remus and Mary.”

“Right, of course. We are friends, right?” Lily paused at the portrait.

“Yes, I guess we probably are,” she agreed. “I’ll come then. Looking forward to it!”

James burst back into the boys dorm looking triumphant, and was disappointed to find it empty. It was only a few minutes before first Remus, then Sirius arrived, the latter pulling off the invisibility cloak as he did so.

“She agreed?” Remus checked.

“She did,” James confirmed. “Moony, this plan is fucking genius. I can’t believe how well this is going. I haven’t been slapped since it started!”

“All of my plans are genius,” Remus pointed out. “This one had the additional benefit of you behaving like a normal person for a few weeks.”

“How’s Pete?” James asked, flopping down on his bed.

“He’ll live. Pads overpowered the stun. Idiot.”

“Oy!” Sirius protested. “You said make it look real!”

“I said knock him out, not hit him so hard you give him concussion. I repeat, you’re an idiot. He can’t go to his own bloody birthday party now. We’ll have to have it without him. Now, on to Step Three, tomorrow night.”


	4. Chapter Four

****Friday 25** ** ** **th** ** ****April, 1975** **

“Lily! Can I wear your black skirt?” Lily emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in a towel, and took out her wand to dry her hair.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Mary MacDonald, already dressed, ran across the room and took the wand off her. “I’m doing your hair. Marls is on your make-up, and Alice is sorting your outfit.”

“We’re going for a - highly illegal - drink,” Lily argued, as Mary sat her on the edge of her bed and went to work. “It’s not a nightclub. If we get caught we’re going to be expelled.”

“No, dearie, we’re going out with the Marauders,” Marlene corrected. “They never get caught, and even if the sky falls and they do - like McGonagall is going to expel you. A blot on your perfect detention record is the worst you can expect! Skirt? OK?”

“Yes, take it,” Lily agreed. “What difference does it make that we are going with them? Other than that we have to listen to Black and Potter being idiots all night.”

“It means,” Marlene sounded muffled as she hunted in Lily’s trunk for the skirt, “That we are out to impress. The three of us, because it’s nice to look nice for your boyfriend, and you, because we are going to show them that you can look like more than a prefect about to put them in detention. Also, I thought you were getting on with James now?”

“Wait!” Alice crossed the room, scrutinized the skirt with her head tipped to the side, and finally said, “No, it’s fine, she’ll be better in those tight jeans. More Lily. Sexy but understated. We don’t want to look like she’s made a lot of effort. Maybe with that green top of yours, Mary? It will look fabulous with her hair.” Mary hummed her agreement, curling the ends of Lily’s hair around her wand.

“You are going to look so awesome, James Potter is going to die!” Marlene crowed, wriggling into the disputed skirt and then kneeling in front of Lily to work on her face.

“I am not trying to impress James Potter,” Lily snapped, sharper than she meant to. “OK, we have been getting on slightly better and he’s not behaving like an arse all the time, but that’s as far as it goes. And if you don’t want me to look like I’ve made a lot of effort, stop making so much effort!”

“You don’t have to be trying to impress him. He’s funny when he’s Lily-struck,” Alice pointed out. “He hasn’t been doing it for the last few weeks, we don’t want him getting over you!”

“Yes, we can’t possibly have three Marauders running around looking for people to have sex with. Marlene needs a night off occasionally,” Mary said calmly.

“You’re one to talk!” her friend replied, without malice. “At least I dated them both! You just have sex with Remus every time you’re both single!”

“What’s the point of dating?” Mary asked. “Neither of us has any interest in the lovey-dovey stuff. And I get the benefit of some truly fantastic sex.”

“He is good,” Marlene agreed thoughtfully. Mary leaned over to poke her.

“Tonight he’s mine,” she grinned. “Stick to your own man! Right, Lily’s hair is done.”

“Where are we meeting them?” Alice asked, carefully laying out clothes on Lily’s bed. “Try these on, Lily, when Marlene’s done with you.”

“Fourth floor. They know a passage,” Mary replied, as Lily dressed quickly. Alice held out a pair of high heels to Lily who protested at once.

“I need to walk to Hogsmeade in those?” she demanded. “Honestly, I’m about thirty seconds away from putting my pyjamas on and going to bed with a book. I don’t know why I let Potter talk me into this nonsense.” Marlene grinned.

“When don’t they know a passage?” she demanded. “Lily, put the damn shoes on. We suffer for our fabulousness. Ladies, we look awesome, and we’re about to be taken out by the hottest bunch of men in Hogwarts. Let’s go get them. Except Lily, of course, who apparently doesn’t want hers.”

~~*~~

  
”Ladies!” Sirius held out his hands as the four girls came towards them, kissing Marlene on the cheek. “You look fabulous!”

“Stunning as always,” Remus informed Mary, who smiled contentedly as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

“Where’s Peter?” Alice asked, joining Frank.

“Banned due to concussion,” Sirius replied. “He’s off with his Hufflepuff doing something that doesn’t involve alcohol.”

“Is it even fun if it doesn’t involve alcohol?” Marlene asked thoughtfully. Sirius pulled her closer.

“I dunno. Maybe we should try it some time and see?” She blinked at him.

“What on Earth would be the point?” He considered for a moment.

“Good point. Terrible idea. Scrap that.”

“Isn’t this for his birthday?” Lily asked, confused. Remus grinned at her.

“What difference does that make?” he asked. “We can celebrate his birthday while he’s getting looked after somewhere else. Come on. We’re wasting time. Lead on, Prongs! Prongs?” James was still staring at Lily and she blushed slightly. He gave himself a shake as Remus nudged him.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “Lily, you look beautiful. Thank you for agreeing to come.” He turned and felt beside a large mirror on the wall, opening it like a door. “Lets go!” he said cheerfully, leading the way inside.

~~*~~

A few hours later, after a long walk through an underground passage that came out near Hogsmeade, Lily found herself seated in the Three Broomsticks between Alice and James, her third butterbeer on the table in front of her, laughing at Sirius’ imitation of Filch. The three marauders were drinking firewhisky, as were Marlene and Mary. Lily, Alice and Frank had swapped to butterbeer after the first few rounds and Lily was increasing grateful that Alice had encouraged this, despite Marlene declaring them both light-weights. She was feeling pleasantly relaxed, but nowhere near the levels of drunkenness that the other members of the party were reaching. 

The only strange point had been early in the evening, when, from their sheltered corner table, they had seen a group of Slytherins who had finished school the previous year come in, together with some other people Lily didn’t recognise. She’d been shocked to feel James’ fist clench against her leg, and on glancing down, to see he had his wand in his hand. Opposite her, Sirius was watching them with a calculating expression, as if he was memorising who was present, while Remus’ eyes were narrowed and he looked ready to leap to his feet with a second’s notice.

Thankfully, the Slytherin group had not stayed for long and once they had left again, all three boys had relaxed and now seemed to be enjoying themselves hugely. She jumped slightly as James leaned into her and murmured,

“A galleon says that Frank and Alice are out of here in the next five minutes.” Lily looked to her right, where her friends appeared completely absorbed in each other. She shook her head.

“Not taking that one,” she smiled. James sighed and shrugged.

“Another drink?” he suggested to the table at large. Frank and Alice exchanged a look and Frank replied,

“Not for us. We’re going to head back shortly, I think I’ve had enough.” James winked at Lily and disappeared to the bar to collect drinks for the rest of them while Frank and Alice collected their belongings and made their way out into the night, arms around each other.

Another round later and Marlene was sitting astride Sirius, kissing him while he had his hands inside her top. Lily was feeling slightly uncomfortable with the display of affection until James kicked Sirius in the shins under the table.

“Oy! Pads! Get a room already!” Sirius grinned evilly at him.

“Already did,” he said. “Marls, shall we?”

“We’re staying here?” she asked.

“We are,” Sirius agreed. “Booked a room for us last time I was at the bar. Come on, gorgeous!” He picked her up and disappeared with her, shrieking and clinging to him.

“Don’t miss breakfast!” James called after them. Sirius made a rude hand gesture at him just before both disappeared out of sight, nearly dropping Marlene in the process.

“Is… is that OK?” Lily asked tentatively. “I mean, we’re prefects, shouldn’t we be stopping them? Making them go back to school?” James laughed gently.

“You are a prefect, but you’re out of bounds, and no power on Earth will stop Sirius and Marlene doing exactly what they want. I should know, I’m their Quidditch Captain. Anyway, you have no back up and they will pretty much just laugh at you. I would advise just letting it be this evening. You can yell at them tomorrow - it’ll be more effective when they are hungover.”

“I’ve got Remus,” Lily said, though even as she looked across at her fellow prefect, she realised this was a lie. Her friend’s eyes were glazed and unfocused and he was leaning back against the seat, seemingly barely aware of his surroundings. “What’s wrong with him?” she asked quietly. James blushed and pushed his glasses up his nose.

“Well, he’s drunk,” he began slowly, “And unless I’m much mistaken, Mary is erm …pleasuring him… under the table.” Lily blushed too, much more violently than James had, and Mary winked at her.

“Poor Lily,” she smiled. “We scandalise her with our promiscuous ways, did you know that, Rem?”

“Hmm?” Remus asked. James shook his head at them.

“Get out before we get thrown out for public indecency,” he sighed. “Should I expect you back tonight, Moony?” 

“Nah,” Mary replied for him “I fancy an al fresco evening,” she added, laughing as she towed Remus towards the door. Remus looked back, pulled away for a second and ran back to them. He threw his arm around James shoulder and said something directly into his friend’s ear, the straightened up again.

“Have fun, Prongs!” he said, louder this time. “Night Lily!” James waved at him as he bounded off back out the door after Mary, and they saw through the window as he caught her outside and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder and running up the street. James sighed, and looked around at the abandoned table. 

“Well, I’m really glad you came,” he said. “If you hadn’t, I’d’ve been left sitting here by myself and that would have been pretty pathetic.”

“I’m glad I came too,” Lily admitted. “It’s been a fun night. And I wouldn’t have liked to think of them all abandoning you alone.”

“Yeah, it has. I’m sorry about the display at the end there.”

“It’s OK. Neither Marlene nor Mary made a secret of what they were coming out for.”

“Do they ever?”

“No, not really. Alice is more restrained, but those two… they are unbelievable.”

“Oh, I could believe it. I have the other half of the quartet, remember. Sirius loves to over-share, though to give him his due Remus is more private. Do you want to go? Or should we get another drink first?”

“I think I’ve drunk enough,” Lily admitted. James grinned.

“OK. Back to school it is then. The walk will sober you up.”

“Potter?” Lily said, as they headed back towards the shack which hid the end of the passage. “Is there any other way back in? That passage was…” James rubbed a hand through his hair.

“Yeah, it’s not the best,” he agreed. “Unfortunately, the only other ones I know are in the cellar of Honeydukes - and I don’t fancy breaking and entering tonight - and in the shrieking shack, which in addition to the breaking and entering would mean that we were still outside the castle when we got back. Sorry. You can hang on to me, if it helps, I know where I’m going. I won’t lose you.” They descended the stairs into the passage as he spoke and, despite both lighting their wands, the darkness in the tunnel swallowed the light. He felt Lily close behind him and placed his hand on her arm, which was trembling slightly. “It’s OK Lily, really. There’s never anyone down here except us.” He felt her fingers slide down his arm until she had a firm grip of his hand and then, almost managing to hide the tremor in her voice, she said.

“OK. Lets go.”


	5. Chapter Five

The time spent walking back through the passage in the dark, clinging to James Potter’s hand, seemed endless to Lily despite the constant flow of chatter that James kept up, but eventually the path began to slope steeply upwards and they emerged from behind the mirror in the fourth floor corridor. Lily blinked a few times, allowing her eyes to adjust to the light.

“I’m glad that’s…” she began, but,

“Shh!” James was frozen in place, staring up the corridor at nothing. He was so tense he was almost trembling, but before Lily could react, he had grabbed her round the waist, pulled something long and silvery from his jacket pocket and had both of them in an alcove, behind a statue, pressed close together. His mouth was beside Lily’s ear and, very softly, she heard the words, “Don’t speak. Don’t move.” She nodded her head a tiny amount in agreement and they stood there, pressed together. Even Lily could now hear the familiar footsteps of the caretaker, though she wondered how on Earth James had heard them so early. She stayed still, pressed against James, for what felt like eternity until Filtch reached them. He stood there for a while, looking around suspiciously, and then eventually moved on, muttering to himself. She stayed motionless against James, who still had his arm around her waist. The voice in her head that sounded like Mary said,

_“You’re enjoying this!”_

_“Of course!”,_ her inner Lily replied. _“I never denied finding him physically attractive!”_

_“It’s not just physical attraction,”_ the inner Mary argued. _“Look how easy it would be to reach up and kiss him. You can’t say you’re not tempted. Go for it! You know he won’t object!”_ Lily’s inner argument was brought to an abrupt halt when something pulsed, hard, against her stomach. Lily froze as she realised what was happened, and raised her eyes to look at James, who was determinedly staring away from her - though his face was bright red. She stayed perfectly still, torn between embarrassment and intrigue, until James moved. He still looked mortified and Lily decided, against the wishes of her inner Mary, that the best thing she could do would be to ignore the entire event.

“He’s gone,” James said. She nodded.

“What is this?” she asked, picking up the end of the silvery cape. James grinned, looking like his old self for a moment as the colour began to fade from his face.

“Invisibility cloak,” he said, setting off towards Gryffindor Tower. Lily hurried to keep up with his long strides.

“It’s incredible!” she said. “It’s foolproof?”

“Seems to be,” James agreed, seemingly glad that the conversation was on the cloak, rather than the incident underneath it. “Looking forward to your empty room tonight?” Lily made a face.

“Not really. I don’t like having a room to myself. At home I share with my sister. She does like having a room to herself, hates it when I come home for the holidays.” James nodded in response, but looked to be miles away, debating something with himself. Just before they reached the portrait, he seemed to reach a decision as he stopped and swung round to face her.

“Lily, I owe you an apology. I’ve been an idiot for the past five years, and I’m sorry. I guess… I guess it’s true when they say that boys don’t know how to talk to girls they like. I know I embarrassed you and upset you on occasion and I really am sorry for that. I hope you can forgive me, because I’ve really enjoyed being friends with you for the last couple of weeks and I’d like to go on like that,” he trailed to a halt and Lily looked at him searchingly. He looked genuinely remorseful, with no trace of fun on his face.

“You did embarrass me,” she began, “And you did upset me sometimes and more importantly than both of those, you bullied my friend. No matter what Severus turned out to be, he used to be my friend and you four picked on him for… I don’t even know what for. I also know what happened last year, with Black and Remus. I know what you did too.”

“How…” James began but she held up a finger to shush him.

“Remus told me. Well, I nagged it out of him. The point remains, while I appreciate that you apologised to me, I think you had bigger crimes.” James looked pained, and Lily waited, patiently. Eventually he spoke.

“You’re right. We were… unkind to Snape. Though, I will add, he was often just as unkind back. However, while at the moment I’m not sure that apologising to him will have any affect at all, I will apologise to you for our behaviour towards him while he was your friend. I can assure you that since last year, we’ve pretty much left him alone. But I am sorry. I was an arse - or am an arse, perhaps - but I can’t help that particularly.” There was a long pause, then Lily stepped forward, stretched up, and kissed him on the cheek.

“OK, I forgive you,” she said. James blinked.

“You do?”

“Yes. You seem to be genuine and I appreciate that. Also, like you said - the last few weeks have been fun. Now come on, lets go inside. These shoes are killing my feet.”

“If you don’t want to be alone,” James suggested, and they set off again, “You could come up to my dorm. All the guys are out too and I’ve got a bottle of firewhisky that I don’t think Sirius has got his hands on yet. We could have a nightcap?”

“You’ve got firewhisky in your dorm?” Lily demanded, scandalised again. James laughed at her.

“Yes, Miss Prefect, I do. You can put me in detention later. Do you want some or not?” Lily hesitated, and then gave in.

“Why not?” she agreed. James grinned delightedly, grabbed her hand, and dragged her into the common room.

~~*~~

Ten minutes later, after assuring the seventh year prefect that she was perfectly fine and really was with James Potter by choice, Lily found herself seated awkwardly on the end of James’ bed while he rummaged in his trunk for the bottle.

“Relax,” he said, looking up at her. “I’m not going to eat you!”

“These are not the best jeans for sitting around in,” Lily admitted, rubbing the waist band in irritation. “It’s difficult to get comfortable.” James sat up on his heels, looking thoughtful, then moved to Sirius’ trunk and began rummaging in it.

“Never present a Marauder with an problem,” he said, sounding muffled. “There is always a way to solve everything. Sirius has…ah-ha!” he emerged holding a bundle of emerald green silk, which he threw to her. “These might be more comfortable,” he suggested. Lily picked up the garments.

“What the… these are silk... are they Black’s? Why on Earth does Black have silk pyjamas?” James had resumed his search for the Firewhisky.

“He got them as a present years ago. Refused to wear them because they’re green, but refused to throw them out because they are silk and he’s a snob. He said they’d come in handy some day, now they have. Seriously, change into them if you want to.” Lily looked reluctant. “Look, it’s up to you,” James said, seeing this. “But you’ve already done a bunch of things tonight that I bet you thought you’d never do, so at this point, what’s another one? Even if I was going to tell, which I won’t, no one in the world will believe that Lily Evans was drinking firewhisky in the boys dorm with the awful, arrogant, arsehole James Potter, while wearing Sirius Black’s pyjamas.” Lily joined him in laughing at this.

“Remus will,” she pointed out. James pondered this for a second.

“Remus doesn’t count. He won’t care.”

“Fine. I’ll go and put them on. Is your bathroom fit for use?”

“Maybe?”

“Is anything going to happen to me if I go into it?”

“Probably not,” he said, after consideration. Lily gave up, deciding this was as good as she was going to get, picked up the pyjamas, and disappeared.


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we are at the final chapter. Thank you all for reading, I really appreciate it!

~~*~~

The bathroom was cleaner and much tidier than she had anticipated, and Lily took her time changing into the luxurious pyjamas, employing her wand to shrink them strategically to ensure she was properly covered. She also commandeered the washbag with R.L. stamped on it and unearthed a face cloth and soap, with which she scrubbed off the makeup Marlene had carefully applied several hours before. Conscious of the time she’d taken, she hurried to collect up her jeans and top and return to the dormitory.

When Lily returned, James was lounging on his bed in Quaffle-printed pyjama bottoms, the bottle of firewhisky in his hand.

“I figured I’d change too,” he said. “I thought it might make you more comfortable, rather than me sitting here fully dressed while you lounge around in pyjamas. Though I can find a t-shirt, if you prefer.” Lily took a deep breath, and made a split second decision to listen to her inner Mary for once. Despite the heightened colour on her cheeks, she looked at him thoughtfully until he blushed too. Then, she said,

“No, I think I prefer you like this.” James looked shocked, but tried hard to cover this while pouring the firewhisky into a pair of expensive looking cut glass tumblers with Black family crests etched onto them. Lily, enjoying the reaction, seated herself comfortably on the end of his bed and picked up her wand to begin removing the pins from her hair. James watched, fascinated, as the long red hair tumbled free down her back, hanging to her waist. “Much better,” Lily concluded. “Remind me to thank Black for the loan. I think the spell work should be reversible.” James held out a glass to her.

“So,” he began, “Tell me more about you.”

James Potter, Lily concluded a while later, was an excellent listener. He drank significantly more of the firewhisky than she did while asking questions that meant she soon found herself telling him at length about Petunia, her boyfriend Vernon, and the events at Christmas that had resulted in her staying at Hogwarts for the Easter holidays. In return, she found herself learning about James’ pure-blood upbringing with elderly parents, about something he alluded to vaguely that meant Black now lived with them, and quite a bit about James’ determination to be a force for good in the wizarding world and overcome the pure-blood agenda that was on the rise. Gradually, as they talked, Lily had shifted around until they were lying side by side on the bed, the firewhisky forgotten as James talked, seemingly only partly to her.

“It’s not fair, you know? It’s not right, the way they treat muggle-borns like you, or people like Moony. Wizards like… well, like Sirius’ family, for example - they can’t stay in power. They can’t rule the world because that makes the world a really horrible place to live in. It’s not fair that Moony will probably never get a job in the Wizarding World, when he’s smart enough to end up as Minister for Magic someday. It’s not fair that you’ll find it hard to be taken on for a mastery, if that’s what you want to do, because a lot of the traditionalists won’t want either a witch or a muggle-born to train under them. I mean, don’t get me wrong, you absolutely will find someone, I’m sure of it - but they should be queueing up to take you. At least when you do find someone, you’ll show them all what they missed by turning you down. That is, if you get turned down. Sorry, I got a bit carried away.”

“It’s OK,” Lily said, fascinated by watching the fire in his eyes as he talked about something he was clearly passionate about. “I knew all that. McGonagall told me before I chose my NEWTS.” James had gone quite and was watching her. She felt her heart rate quicken as she met his eyes and saw that he looked nervous. “What’s wrong?” she asked. James bit his lip.

“There’s something I want to say,” he said slowly. “But I’m worried if I do that I’ll ruin all the progress we’ve made and that you’ll slap me. Also I’m worried that I’m talking to much because I’m a bit drunk and if I screw up Moony will kick me from here to the quidditch pitch and then beat me to death with my own broom.” Lily paused, intruiged.

“That’s extremely specific,” she observed. James nodded.

  
”That’s what he said to me before he left the pub,” he told her. “He also told me that this was probably my last chance, and I’m scared to use it up if it is.” Lily put her hand out and rested it against his bare chest, where she could feel his heart racing as much as hers was. At her touch, James seemed to have stopped breathing, and after a few seconds she pulled it away again.

“I think,” she said slowly, “that you’ve done more than your fair share of this bit. It’s my turn. Will you kiss me?” There was a long silence, during which James frankly goggled at her until she could barely suppress the urge to giggle. Eventually, he managed to stammer,

“Do you… do you mean that?” Lily sighed, leaned forward, and pressed her lips to his. He was frozen for another second and then she felt him respond, his arm moving around her waist as he pulled her in towards him and held her tightly. When they broke apart, a few minutes later, James still looked stunned.

“Merlin’s balls,” he swore. This time, Lily did giggle, before reaching up to push his hair off his face. He was grinning madly now, looking not arrogant, nor mischievous, but simply genuinely happy. Lily decided to seize this with both hands.

“Potter,” she began, and then corrected herself. “James,” If possible, his grin grew even wider at her use of his first name and he leant forward to kiss her again. Lily drew back after a few seconds. “James,” she tried again. “Will you go to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow? On a date?” James hugged her tightly and kissed her again.

“Try and stop me!” he finally said. Lily grinned back at him.

~~*~~

They spent more time together, kissing frantically until James pulled away looking embarrassed.

“What is it?” Lily asked bluntly. He blushed even redder and waved a hand in the general direction of his groin.

“The… thing… that happened earlier,” he began, now almost painfully scarlet with embarrassment. “Happened again. I was trying to not let you know.” Lily looked thoughtful and then reached out and pressed her palm to the bulge in the front of his pyjama bottoms. James nearly jumped out the bed.

“Sorry,” she said, now almost equally embarrassed. “I thought that would be good. Isn’t that what Mary was doing before?”

“So good I’m pretty much convinced right now that this is a dream,” James assured her hurriedly. “You just surprised me, that’s all. Please, do it again…. that is, if you want to,” he added hastily. He resumed his position and Lily repeated her action. This time, he merely let his head fall back against the pillow as she tentatively rubbed her hand over him, drawing confidence from the string of murmured swears and groans he was uttering. Suddenly he reached down and grabbed her wrist. “You need to stop now,” he said reluctantly. Lily looked at him considerately, and repeated her previous action. James’ hips bucked towards her. “Really, Lily, you need to stop. I can’t… I’m going to…”

“Is that a problem?” Lily asked. He swallowed hard.

“Isn’t it a problem for you?” he asked in disbelief. She shrugged.

“This,” she indicated the now distinct tent his his trousers, “seems very unfair. From what the girls tell me, you’d enjoy it much more if we kept going. And… if we are going to date, well, I don’t suppose it’ll be the only time. Not with the amount of sexual shenanigans going on in this tower on a daily basis.”

“Fuck,” James muttered, his eyes almost closed as she moved her hand towards him again. “You are so fucking perfect. Keep going if you want, I certainly won’t object. Though I’m now more convinced that ever that this is a dream.” Lily smiled, and slid her hand inside his pyjama bottoms this time, grasping his erection and stroking it firmly. James seemed to give up at that point and groaned desperately.

“Tighter… please,” he gasped eventually. Lily obliged, and within seconds he had stiffened against her, groaning in release. She withdrew her hand and lay down beside him, waiting until he had recovered.

“You are so fucking perfect,” he repeated. “I’ll… need a minute. Don’t go anywhere.” He climbed out of the bed and disappeared in the direction of the bathroom with his wand. Lily lay back, finding herself suddenly very sleepy. By the time James returned, she was almost asleep. “You’re staying then?” he grinned. She smiled back drowsily.

“Do you mind?”

“Hell, no!” he exclaimed. “I’ll sleep in Sirius’ bed.” Lily shook her head, and indicated the spot beside her where he’d spent the rest of the night.

“Stay with me,” she said. James shook his head admiringly.

“So fucking perfect,” he repeated for the third time, climbing into his own bed and pulling the covers over both of them. Lily felt him settle down behind her, his arm over her waist, and knew no more.

~~*~~

The bright sunlight was an assault to her senses when she woke up, and she screwed her eyes shut before hearing the united gasps that told her that firstly, it was the opening of the dormitory door that had awakened her and secondly, that the other Marauders were back. She felt James’ hand squeeze her hip and his lips brush the back of her neck and knew that he was awake too, but the others were speaking.

“That’s Evans,” Peter said, sounding bewildered.

“Those are my pyjamas,” Sirius added. “And my firewhisky and my glasses.”

“She’s in Prongs’ bed,” Peter returned.

“Go Prongs,” Sirius observed. “About time he got some. However, to return to the point about my possessions…”

“Evans in is Prongs’ bed,” Peter repeated again, interrupting and seemingly struggling to grasp this fact.

“Yep,” Remus, to Lily, sounded oddly triumphant. She peeked through her eyelashes and saw that he was looking straight at her - Remus, at least, she concluded, knew that they were awake. “May I take this moment to point out,” Remus continued quietly, “That you both owe me ten galleons?”


End file.
